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Tehran Power Grid, Substations Set for Rehab

Expansion and renovation of Tehran's dilapidated power grid needs $3 billion in investment by 2025, managing director of Tehran Regional Electricity Company said.

"Tehran electricity network has not had a major overhaul in more than 30 years. This has become a source of concern among officials regarding the repercussions, such as high rate of electricity wastage," Gholamreza Khoshkholgh was quoted by ISNA as saying.

According to the official, renovating the substation equipment in the sprawling and overpopulated metropolis is a monumental task. Plans are in place for delegating overhaul projects via tenders.

Commenting on tenders to renovate 312 aging substations in five phases (each phase is estimated to cost an estimated $200 million and financing conditions will be determined by the Central Bank of Iran), he said the first international tender was announced and 36 firms were qualified to modernize 67 substations.

However, most companies were eliminated from the final list as they did not agree to abide by the terms of the tender, such as using mostly domestically-produced equipment in the rehabilitation process.

"An unnamed company won the first tender and accepted to undertake the plan based on the stipulated conditions," Khoshkholgh said, noting that the expenses have already been calculated and as soon as CBI declares the financing details, a contract will be signed.

Regarding the systematic increase in demand for electricity in the capital, he said that TREC covers Tehran, Qom and Alborz Provinces with more that 8 million subscribers or 20% of subscribers across the country.

Consumption during peak hours was 6.2% higher in the current fiscal year that ends in March 2017 compared to that of last year's corresponding period.

He said developing transmission and distribution substations and extending aerial and ground transmission cables are the company's priority.

On the electricity sector's achievements, Khoshkholgh said the industry does not need foreign help in building distribution substations "But 3% of the transmission substations' high-tech equipment is imported.

Iran’s electricity industry ranks 14th in the world and first in the Middle East in terms of output. It is the largest exporter and importer of electricity in the Middle East and exports electricity to Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan. Azerbaijan and Armenia supply electricity to Iran under a swap agreement.

The electricity industry in Iran ranks 14th in the world and first in the Middle East in terms of electricity generation with an installed capacity of 75,000 MW.